FILM REVIEWS: Much Ado About Nothing

For those of you who still doubt Joss Whedon's godly power over every project he touches, look no further than Much Ado About Nothing. After once again proving himself with the enormous Avengers film, he set out to differentiate himself from other directors who normally would continue to stick to their formula of directing colorful action films with plenty of 'splosions. Not the case. Instead, he chose to shoot a positively brilliant adaptation of a classic Shakespeare play in black and white at his house.

For those of you who aren't Shakespeare buffs (which I suppose would be about everyone), Much Ado About Nothing is essentially the classic comedy from the most famous playwright of all time. It tracks a series of occasionally hopeful, occasionally doomed romances in a castle during an extended family get-together. Whedon has taken it and set it all in his own home, a daring endeavor, as actors tend to break shit. Anyway, the ins and outs of the family's relationships are too numerous and complicated to type out (which is why Rotten Tomatoes kept its summary nice and concise), but here's what you need to know: Everybody wants to get married, and those who don't want to get married are trying to set other people up.

Whedon regulars are, of course, present-- There's Sean Maher from Firefly, Amy Acker and Fran Kranz from The Cabin in the Woods-- but the performance that stands out most is God (aka Nathan Fillion) as Dogberry, the chief of security in the household. He plays a pompous, arrogant fool better than any I've ever seen, and it's amazing. He expertly butchers every line he attempts to say, makes "an ass" of himself in front of everyone, and in his last scene on camera, steals the show by locking himself out of his car.

Unfortunately, Fillion doesn't have enough screen time, but Whedon made that expert decision in order to keep us from getting bored by the character. He's great in short bursts, and when he leaves, he leaves you wanting to see more. Nonetheless, Fillion most certainly is not the only outstanding performance in the film. Amy Acker is great as the witty and sarcastic lead, and Alexis Denisof is quite good as her equally-matched enemy-turned-husband.

The film's biggest accomplishment is that it takes Shakespeare's highfalutin dialogue and, within the first few minutes, makes it feel commonplace. Most modernized Shakespeare adaptations end up making the classical dialogue feel forced in a modern-day environment (Hamlet 2000, anyone?). But all the actors and actresses are able to say their lines as if it's just the way they normally talk. By the second scene in the film, I had forgotten that I was watching Shakespeare, and now was just interested in what all these people were going to do in Joss Whedon's house.

Final Score for Much Ado About Nothing: 9/10 stars. Better than The Avengers and approaching the genius that is Firefly, this is one of Whedon's best creations yet. I haven't used the word "masterpiece" yet this year, but this is as close as I've seen thus far. Easily the best film of the year (which is not saying much), but still worthy of its title as the best screen adaptation of Shakespeare this century.